


Saudade

by Heiipi



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drama, Future Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-02-22
Packaged: 2018-03-14 11:52:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3409586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heiipi/pseuds/Heiipi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Saudade</i> (from the Portuguese):<br/>Cherished memory from a person who is far away from us, lost in a happier past. Nostalgia.</p><p>Much has changed in the seven years Kise was absent. His childhood friends turned into adults… and Aomine, his old love, turned into the father of Momoi’s child. Seven years ago, in a drunken night, Aomine betrayed Kise and blew up their promising future. For Kise, leaving was his only option… but now he is back, and the memories of their happy childhood are still painfully present, remembering them of everything they could have been.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. My little baby

**Author's Note:**

> Warning #1: This is a future fanfiction, but let’s consider the future these first weeks of February 2015, just to make things easier and clear.  
> Warning #2: Perhaps a bit OOC… but hey, the boys are about 25 years-old in this fanfiction, and they have matured and some of them have had a hard time, so please try to be opened minded about it :D I’ll try to be as faithful to the original characters as possible.
> 
> Thank you [Andrea](http://www.archiveofourown.org/users/xYaoiDreamer/pseuds/xYaoiDreamer), my friend, my beta reader, my everything ♥ I couldn’t write my overly dramatic fanfiction without your everlasting patience and willingness to read my beta works full of typos (let’s call it… a grammatical murder, ahaha!! No…? Okay :/) I promise next time I’ll try to keep it short, sweet and drama-free. Just fluff!
> 
> With this said, I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for your time ♥

‘Who are you woman? Introduce thyself!’

Startled, the woman squeaked and collided against the wall, dropping her shoes. All the surprise of being caught off guard was slowly turned into amusement when she laid her hazel eyes upon the person talking to her. It was a young boy, no more than six years-old, with pale skin, shining deep violet eyes and blue hair hidden under a pot. He was wearing blue pajamas with spaceships, but the kid was obviously posing as a knight, with a towel as a cloak and a wooden spoon as a sword.

‘Are you deaf, woman? I demand an answer!’

The woman frowned an eyebrow towards the brat’s impertinence, but she approached him anyways. She was curious about the little boy’s presence and his hair color.

‘He has a _son_?!’, she mumbled as she squatted in front of the kid, her puzzled eyes tracing all the similarities between father and son. ‘He didn’t tell me… And he brought me to his house, with his kid sleeping in the room next to ours!’

Confused by that situation and by the woman’s silence the boy gave one step forward and put his hand over the woman’s head.

‘What’s the matter, my lady? Why so quiet? Won’t you tell me your name? Is something wrong with my lady?’

The woman lifted her head and gave the kid an awkward smile.

‘My name is –’

‘What’s this ruckus all about?’ Aomine’s demanding voice filled the division as he stormed into the living room. ‘Weren’t you suppose to leave quietly?’, he spanned at the woman.

‘That was the plan… _until I found your son_!’, she retorted with the same tone.

‘Are you holding the lady against her will?’, the boy asked wiggling his spoon at his father.

‘Daichi?!’, Aomine exclaimed as he saw his child standing next to his latest one night stand.

‘Hey, Daddy!’, the kid smiled, now out of character. ‘Nanao-san said you were almost home, but I fell asleep before you arrived and I didn’t see you!’

‘Sorry, buddy. Come here’, Aomine called with a soft smile, holding out his arms towards his little boy. Tossing his wooden spoon aside Daichi ran to his father, happily wiggling his legs as Aomine took him in his arms. ‘Sorry Daddy wasn’t here last night’, he spoke softly, placing a chaste on his son’s forehead. ‘But today we’ll have lots of fun, okay?!’

‘Do you pinky promise?’, Daichi asked doubtfully, showing his father his right pinky finger.

‘Of course I pinky promise!’, Aomine laughed tangling his pinky tanned finger with his son’s tinny one. Daichi was growing so quickly, but at the same time he still looked so small and defenseless. _My little baby_ …, Aomine thought as he kissed his son’s hair, his eyes suddenly shifting to the woman still present in the room. ‘Listen, why don’t you go to your room to build a fortress, so we can do a _Game of Thrones_ marathon? What do you say?!’

‘ _Yaaa~~y_! Okay, Daddy, hurry up!’, the kid said excitedly as his father put him down.

Aomine watched his son dashing off to his bedroom with a smile, but when he turned to face the woman all of his sweetness had already turned into bitterness.

‘I thought I told you to leave quietly’, he groaned at the woman.

‘Yeah, you did… But you didn’t tell me the most important thing – _you have a son_!’

‘Leave my son out of this!’

‘You were the one who put him here to begin with. We had sex and the son I didn’t even know you had was _here_!’

‘Leave!’, Aomine ordered pointing at the front door.

‘Oh my gosh’, the woman gasped with shock. ‘Do you have a wife?! Are you _married_?’

‘No.’

‘Oh well’, she sighed with relief. ‘At least you didn’t lie about _that_. I’m guessing that the kid’s mother isn’t around. I mean, no sane parent would let his kid watch _Game of Thrones_!’

With a grunt Aomine approached the woman whose name he didn’t even remember anymore and grabbed her arm. Ignoring her protests he dragged her to the door and practically threw her outside. The sex wasn’t even that great, and he absolutely detested seeing her around his child, talking with and about him, and his upbringing. Still, Aomine knew he had been a bastard with her.

Wretched, the man ran his two hands through his face, trying wipe away his growing grumpiness. He was a lousy adult, and even a worse lover. But he was a good father. He opened his son’s bedroom door halfway-through and discreetly peered up. The bedroom walls’ used to be white and cold, but Aomine had painted them all blue, matching the bed and the bed sheets, and had helped his son hang out posters of his NBA idols – Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, John Wall, Kevin Durant… - many of which Aomine wasn’t particularly fond of. He had always enjoyed Eastern Conference teams more, but due to his son he learned how to like some Western teams, such as the _Warriors_ and the _Lakers_ (his son’s current favorite team); they were mildly good and had talented stars. As he watched his little boy blissfully swaying between the sheets he told to himself that he was, indeed, a great father. And he was also all that Daichi had, so he would be the best person in his son’s life. For his son, he would be better.

‘There you are, Daddy!’, Daichi exclaimed when he saw his dad silently peering into his room. ‘Are you playing hide and seek?!’

With a huge grin Aomine fully opened the bedroom door and jumped in bed with his son.

‘I don’t want to play hide and seek with you! You’re so good that you always find me’, Aomine whined.

‘That’s because Daddy is _huu~~ge_! You’re like _this_ big’, the kid said, spreading his tinny arms as much as he could, ‘so I always find you.’

‘That’s not fair!’, Aomine said with pouting his lips.

‘Will I be big like you?’, the kid wondered squeezing his father’s cheeks with his hands.

‘No, you’ll be even bigger!’, Aomine guaranteed, stretching up his child’s arms towards the ceiling. ‘Bigger than Daddy!’

‘Big like Kobe?’, the kid asked enthusiastically looking at Kobe Bryant’s poster.

‘Yeah, but you’ll be better than him! And make the best dunks!’

‘Like this?!’, Daichi asked, dunking his hand into an invisible basket and doing the sound effects with his mouth.

‘That’s the way, champ!’, Aomine clapped. ‘So, what are we going to watch?’

‘ _Game of Thrones_!’, Daichi quickly shouted at the TV.

Aomine looked attentively at his son, exhaling thoughtfully while he ruffled his blue hair.

‘Maybe we should watch _SpongeBob_ ’, he suggested. Aomine didn’t want to fast forward through all the sex scenes, blood scenes, death scenes, cursing scenes, nude scenes, weird scenes… Daichi only wanted to see the knights, the snow, the wolves’ cubs and the dragons, and of course that Aomine wouldn’t ever dream of exposing his son to such a gruesome show. _Maybe we should start watching_ Merlin, he reasoned.

‘Is everything okay, Daddy?’, Daichi wondered suspiciously looking at his father.

‘Yeah, of course! Everything’s fine, why would you think otherwise?’

‘That woman… Who was?’

‘No one, buddy. Forget about her.’

‘She was pretty’, Daichi insisted. Aomine gave him a stiff look and was ready to snap at him… but that woman was his mistake. He should never had brought her home, especially when Daichi was there. He didn’t have the right to be mad at his kid when he was the one to make the mess.

‘She was, but she couldn’t stay with us’, Aomine said tensely.

‘Like Mom?’, Daichi whispered.

Aomine bit his tongue and turned on the TV. He always needed some time to retort whenever someone brought Satsuki to the conversation. Normally he would just tell them to piss off, but when Daichi got curious about his mother he had to take things carefully.

‘It’s a little different, Daichi. Mom loved you, but she couldn’t stay. This woman you saw today wasn’t a good person, you understand?’

Daichi looked over to his father. He seemed strange, so he chose to shut up. His father had never forbid him from making questions about his mother, but he could tell that dad didn’t like to answer them. Honestly, most of the times Daichi didn’t even care about his mother, the woman he couldn’t even remember. At school all of his friends had two parents, so things always got awkward whenever Daichi had to explain that he didn’t had a mother; or that he didn’t know her, actually. But everything was fine; he was happy with his dad.

‘Maybe we can watch _SpongBob_ , just this time, since Daddy wants to’, Daichi said with a smile, earning him a kiss from his father.


	2. Look at me now

Seven years had passed since they graduated from high school. Midorima was overseas at Med school. Murasakibara had started working as a pastry maker in a nearby pastry shop, but working with sweets didn’t motivate him as much as eating sweets, so he would most likely be unemployed by the end of the month. Akashi was running his own company, of course. Himuro was a sports coach and worked as a sports model on his free time. Kagami was playing basketball and was a firefighter as a part-time job.

‘And I took a degree on first aid and I’m currently working as a kindergarten teacher’, Kuroko concluded, finally taking a sip of his vanilla shake.

‘Amazing, Kurokocchi!’, Kise exclaimed. ‘As expected from Midorimacchi and Akashicchi, always doing great things on their own. I didn’t expect Murasakibaracchi to ever find a job, though. And I already knew about Himurocchi, because I put in a good word for him. By the end of high school he was approached by a modeling agency and he sought me out for advice, so we kind of bonded over that.  And as expected from you, Kurokocchi, always helping others. You must be really proud of Kagamicchi!’

‘Yes, I am.’

‘Kurokocchi~’, Kise cried, resting his blond head on his hand. ‘I’ve been away for almost seven years and your words are as short as usual. Or are you just embarrassed? I heard you and Kagamicchi are living together for some time now.’

‘Yes, we are’, Kuroko nodded, looking down at his cup.

‘You _are_ embarrassed!’, Kise exclaimed, joyfully looking at his friend. ‘But I’m happy for you; for _both_ of you. I’m really glad that everything worked out between you and Kagamicchi. You deserve to be happy together!’, he concluded with a smile.

‘And what about you? What have you been doing? I mean, you’re so famous now that we have a pretty clear idea of what I have been up to. Have you come across with all the posters and magazines with your face spread around town?’

‘Yeah, some of them. They’re pretty amazing, right?!’

‘That’s one way of putting it’, Kuroko hesitantly said with a shrug of shoulders. ‘We could always see your face, but that only made it clear that you weren’t here with us. We have missed you, Kise-kun.’

‘Oh… C-C’mon’, Kise mumbled, and now he was the embarrassed one, but he just couldn’t disguise it as perfectly as Kuroko. ‘You’re so sweet! And I’ve missed you too! It’s been hard not having you guys around… especially now that I can’t really distinguish between my friends and the vultures. And even those friends don’t come any close to the friendship we have. But you don’t have to be so dramatic, Kurokocchi. After all, Midorimacchi is away as well.’

‘It’s different, Kise-kun, and you know it’, Kuroko said with an intense glare. Kise understood that he was stepping into thin ice, and that made him uneasy. Even the atmosphere between him and Kuroko, which up until now had been so relaxed and nice, was becoming tense.

‘Unfortunately you don’t get to see Midorimacchi’s face very often.’

‘At least we got to say goodbye before he left to another continent’, Kuroko hissed.

‘’Does he still have that stiff look?’, Kise  ignored his friend’s remark and joked, but Kuroko seemed to be enjoying none of it. ‘I’ve missed him too. He was so funny, even when he wasn’t trying to be.’

‘Did you missed all of us?’, Kuroko wondered, and there was something scary about his body language.

‘Yeah, you guys are like my family’, Kise smiled warmly.

A long silence followed, in which they finished their drinks. Things were getting too odd and awkward, so Kise decided he should dash off soon. He still wanted to spend some more time with his friend, but there would be other opportunities. No matter how much he missed Kuroko their conversation had died already; at least for Kise. Absentmindedly the model looked at his fancy watch. “Oh, look at the time! Gotta run!”, he was about to say, but Kuroko spoke first, and his tone was all serious and stiff.

‘Aren’t you going to ask?’

‘Ask what?’, Kise retorted with his most innocent face.

‘About him.’

‘Who? Takao?, Kise wondered with a bitter smile.

‘Stop that, Kise-kun’, Kuroko snapped angrily, leaving Kise glued to the chair’s back. How do they use to say? “Fear the wrath of the quiet one”; something like that, right? ‘Stop pretending like you don’t care, stop pretending that it doesn’t affect you.’

‘It would be pretty pathetic if it still affected me after all this time, wouldn’t it?’, Kise wondered with a cocky stare. ‘I mean, I’m a supermodel. I’m rich. I’m famous. I’ve got all the ladies – and even some men – running after me. Do you think something that happened seven or eight years ago would still affect _me_?’

‘Then why have you asked about everyone but _him_?’

Kise bit his lower lip and tried to ease up his body. Fidgeting with his cup he sought to bring out his most casual tone when he asked with a forced smile:

‘How’s Aominecchi doing?’

‘At first it was hard on him, but he’s fine now. He managed to put his life together. Daichi-kun really brings out the best in him.’

‘Oh, it’s a boy’, Kise whispered. ‘Yeah, I guess it must have been hard for him… Teenage father, teenage mother, both finishing their senior year, unemployed. It must have been difficult for them, but I’m glad they’re good now.’ Every word he spoke about Aomine was like receiving a nail right on his heart, but he would lead that mutilation until the end. The subject could leave him close to tears, but he was also proud and stubborn. He wouldn’t let Kuroko believing he was right. ‘I’m glad they’re good’, he repeated in a whisper.

‘It was troublesome, but Aomine managed to enroll into the police academy one year after Daichi was born. Physically he was great, so he excelled at his every task.’

‘Aomine, the cop.’ Kise chewed on that information for a while. ‘I’d never imagine it’, he admitted with a dismissive laugh. ‘Really, Aomine is a cop?!’

‘And a very good one’, Kuroko nodded.

‘So everyone’s happy’, Kise concluded. ‘How many kids get to say that his daddy is a cop? Oh, and Momoicchi must be so proud. She always liked to brag.’ Kise’s bitterness was growing bigger by the second. ‘I must say that even though that kid was unplanned they put up a really nice family. A picture perfect family… Momoicchi must be thrilled.’

‘I don’t know how Momoi-san is. She left Aomine-kun and Daichi-kun one year after the baby was born.’

Astonished, Kise’s jaw dropped while his eyes widen. Had he hear correctly? Momoicchi had left? Had she left her boyfriend and child behind and gone away?

‘Aomine felt miserable when Momoi-san left’, Kuroko resumed. But Kise didn’t want to know… he really didn’t want to know, so why was he listening? ‘Not because he had lost his girlfriend, but because he was nineteen. He was nineteen and had just joined the police; he didn’t know what to do when Momoi-san left that child on his arms. But most of all he felt miserable because he really loved his baby. He was so scared during Momoi-san’s pregnancy; after you left, he almost became a despicable person, and his imminent fatherhood brought to the surface an even worse side of him. Thankfully all that changed the first time he held his child…’

 ‘Kurokocchi… stop…’

‘… he was so happy. All of his concerns, all of his sadness, all of his fears were swept away by that baby. Daichi-kun is the most important person in Aomine-kun’s life, so the thought of his baby growing without a mother, a mother that chose to abandon him, really left Aomine miserable.’

‘Stop it.’

‘He suffered a lot, Kise-kun. I know he hurt you, but he was hurt as well.’

‘SHUT UP!’, Kise yelled, leaving everyone at the shop staring at him. But Kise didn’t hold back. He was out of his mind, with hot tears rolling down his cheeks. ‘Stop it, Kurokocchi. I’d expect this from Kagamicchi, but not from you. Are you trying to make me feel bad? To feel guilty? Should I be the bad guy just because I left without saying a word to anyone?!’

‘We could have helped you, Kise-kun’, Kuroko said very calmly. ‘Not just you, but Momoi-san and Aomine-kun as well. If you had stayed things could have turned out really differently. Things could have turned out better.’

‘No. _No_! They deserve nothing, you hear me? _Nothing_! They were my friends, and they betrayed me. They betrayed me on the happiest moment of my life! Things would have been different if Aominecchi didn’t screw up like he always does. All he does is to mess things up… to mess people up. I had to leave, Kurokocchi. _I had to_. I couldn’t just stick around and see Momoicchi’s child… and Aominecchi become a father.’ Kise shook his head as if the idea was off-putting. ‘I didn’t want my friends to choose sides, so I left. I was hurt by the ones I loved and I left. And it was the best thing I did.’ With a laugh broken by tears Kise repeated: ‘It was the best damn thing I did. Look at me now… and look at them.’

‘Yeah, look at you now, Kise’, Kuroko said gloomily, maybe a little disgusted. It hurt him so much to look at Kise now; still beautiful and joyful as the boy he used to know… but so different on the inside; so bitter and twisted. And it hurt him even further to know that another dear friend of his led Kise into that ugliness.

‘Oh, look at the time’, Kise said suddenly without even looking at his watch. ‘I got to go, Kurokocchi. It was nice to catch up’, he smiled still with teary dark eyes. ‘See you around!’


	3. I really miss my friends

‘When I looked over from my desk there she was – the same woman I’d seen on the subway, but now I could watch her more closely. Like I said, she wasn’t insanely beautiful, but she had the most amazing body I’ve ever seen.’ Upon hearing Aomine’s last words Kuroko gave a concerned look at Aomine’s son, who was absentmindedly coloring his _Happy Meal_ box. ‘You should have seen her – she had the most amazing boob – eyes!’, Aomine abruptly said, stealing a glance from his oblivious son. ‘Big round perfect “eyes”, if you know what I mean. And all natural, you can take my word! I don’t even have to chase after the ladies, they just fall on my lap like this’, Aomine bragged, spanning his fingers.

‘Dude, your son is right here’, Kagami laughed, although his boyfriend bared a more strict and gloomy look.

‘He’s fine, don’t worry.’ Aomine patted his son on the shoulder but the kid didn’t even flinch. ‘I’ve given him a box of markers and pencils, so now all he does is draw. Maybe I should also have given him paper, because he has grown a taste for drawing on the walls’, Aomine laughed. ‘I still have to rub off our latest family portrait from the living room’s wall.’

Kagami laughed alongside Aomine, but something felt wrong. It was Kuroko. Kuroko was hurting, and Kagami felt it on his heart. He had told him all about his encounter with Kise, and how the blond  tried to show that he was better than the boy who left years ago – famous, rich, more confident, apparently immune to the sadness of the past… but he had failed. Kise didn’t managed to remain composed and cool, and all of his pain unleashed. And his pain hurt Kuroko. Kuroko was hurt by the friend he was happy to welcome back, and disillusioned by the boy he didn’t know anymore. Kagami hated to see his boyfriend so blue, but he also could understand Kise’s pain, and why he was so different. Kagami himself had changed – he was calmer now, more insightful and attentive. He had changed for better because Kuroko had made him better. It’s no wonder that Kise ended up so bitter after his ordeal with Aomine. Even now Kagami couldn’t understand why Aomine had cheated on Kise with Momoi.  He and Kise had been dating for almost two years then, and they seemed so in love and blessed – they were moving in together, Aomine had been granted a sports scholarship… until Momoi showed up pregnant with Aomine’s child. It was messed up, and Kagami only managed to forgive Aomine because his friend really needed his help. He just whished that, at that time, he had been more sensible and also tried to help Kise.

‘Listen kid, do you want to come with me to the playground?’, Kagami asked Daichi.

Daichi lift his head from his colorful box and looked at the other end of the mall, where the playground was.

‘Thanks, but I don’t—’

‘Great, Daichi! Ready to have some fun with your favorite uncle?’, Kagami exclaimed hastily, picking the kid from his sit, making the little one quiver and look towards his father, seeking rescue.

‘Didn’t you listen, moron?’, Aomine scolded. ‘He doesn’t want to go.’

‘Yeah, put me down, Uncle-Bakagami!’

‘Yep, so much fun we’re gonna have!’, Kagami continued, turning a deaf to Aomine and Daichi’s protests, throwing the kid over his shoulder.

‘Aomine-kun, please let them go’, Kuroko plead with a serious look. ‘There’s something I want to talk to you about.’

Aomine gave Kuroko an inquiring eyebrow, but nodded at Kagami either way.

‘Just be careful’, Aomine adverted.

‘Don’t worry. I’ll only slam dunk him in a garbage bin if he asks so’, Kagami said not that reassuringly, walking away.

‘What’s the matter, Tetsu?’, Aomine wanted to know.

Kuroko sipped the last of his orange juice through the straw. He was always straightforward, so there was no changing his approach, even if the subject was sensitive.

‘Kise-kun is back.’

Aomine crossed his arms and leaned over the table, silently looking down for some minutes.

‘What’s his business here?’

‘He wants to sell his flat’, Kuroko explained. _The one you were supposed to share after high school_ , Kuroko could add, but there was no need. Aomine knew exactly what he was talking about.

‘He came back because of _that_? Don’t real-estates take care of such things alone?’

‘Indeed they do’, the light-haired man nodded as a long silence settled in. Aomine seemed lost in thoughts, but after some minutes he asked:

‘How’s he? Is he as okay as he seems on his pretty posters spread around town?’

Kuroko shrugged his shoulders. He really didn’t know how to respond honestly to that question. He didn’t even know if it was better or worse to inform Aomine about Kise’s presence in town. He was as lost as he was seven years ago, when all hell broke loose.

‘He looks exactly as he looks during his photo-shoots – he strikes a pose, he shows us what he wants us to see and looks pretty while doing it. But striking a pose for a camera is completely different from striking a pose for a person. He couldn’t remain composed while talking to me.’

‘He snapped at you?!’, Aomine asked astonished. Not many would get irritated with Kuroko, especially bubbly happy Kise. Yes… Aomine liked to think of him like that – smiling, bubbly, beautiful, happy… happy by his side. All of that seemed so far lost in the past.

‘Yes’, Kuroko nodded gloomily. ‘He changed, Aomine-kun. He looks the same, but he has changed so much. That happy boy we knew must be lost somewhere, because all I saw was an arrogant cold model.’

Aomine kept looking down at his arms. _Did I do this to him_?, was the aching question that Aomine wouldn’t dare to ask his friend. Kuroko would be painfully honest, and Aomine wasn’t ready to hear it. As usual, he wasn’t ready for anything.

‘When is he leaving?’

‘Aren’t you going to say his name?’

 _Kise… Kise…_ No, Aomine wouldn’t dare to say it out loud. Just thinking about his name was painful.

‘Is he staying for long?’, Aomine insisted, dodging the question.

‘I have no idea.’

Sighting, Aomine lifted his head up and finally faced Kuroko, who was looking at him so attentively that Aomine’s blood almost stopped running.

‘Won’t you tell me to talk to him? To make up for what I did?’, Aomine wondered with a sad smile. He really didn’t know what to do, what to say…

‘There’s no making up for what you did.’

‘I get it’, Aomine said bitterly, leaning back on the chair. ‘I messed up, I’ll always be the bastard. And after all these years you still aren’t able to completely forgive me, isn’t that right, Tetsu?’

‘I’m not the one you should beg for forgiveness.’

‘But you see – if you can’t forgive me, neither can _he_.’

‘It’s different, Aomine-kun. We’re different people, Kise-kun and me. He loves you, or at least he did.’

‘He sure as hell doesn’t love me now!’, Aomine laughed obnoxiously, a sorrowful laugh full of remorse.

‘What were you thinking?’, Kuroko asked.

‘What are you talking about?’

‘Back then, when you and Kise-kun were so deeply in love – and I _know_ you were, I could see it in your eyes -, what were you thinking to throw that away for a night with Momoi-san? What were you thinking while you betrayed your boyfriend with a girl that was also his friend?!’

‘Look, I’ve already told you –’, Aomine began aggressively.

‘No, you haven’t told me because I have never asked you. I was never able to ask you because I was too busy picking up the pieces in order to make things right. Back then I believed that we could work things out; that you, Kise-kun and Momoi-san could talk and reach understanding. I was hopeful, but I wasn’t naïve; I knew that things would never get back to what they used to be, but you three didn’t have to end up like this either.’

‘”Like this”? How?’

‘Kise-kun left because he was heartbroken and humiliated, and he didn’t want to split our group. I guess that Momoi-san was devastated as well, and couldn’t handle the pressure.’

‘She left behind her son, Tetsu, _her son_. No matter how devastated she could have felt she should have stayed. Even when everything was falling to pieces she should have stayed – not for us, not for me, _but for her son_. What kind of mother leaves her son without saying a word?!’

‘A nineteen years-old girl that was not ready to be a mother. A scared girl that made a mistake and broke her friends’ heart and didn’t know how to cope with that.’

Aomine shook violently his head. Seven years had passed, but this heartbreaking shameful subject was always lurking around them, haunting their lives like a ghost.

‘Maybe one day when you have a child of your own you’ll understand, Tetsu, but things aren’t as simple as that. I was scared too, okay? I was scared, and although you and Kagami tried to help me I felt alone. I was alone because I didn’t have _him_. He was all I cared about, and I screwed it. And I wanted was to be by his side; and I wanted to run after him and apologize to him, but I couldn’t… I couldn’t because I had my little baby, and I loved him. Daichi saved me. If Satsuki was able to see behind herself and her sorrow, Daichi could have saved her as well. She just didn’t give our son the change he deserved, and now he’ll grow up without a mother… and I can’t help but to feel responsible for that.’

‘That was Momoi-san’s mistake, Aomine-kun, _not yours_. Neither of you were ready to become a parent, nor a couple. But you managed to raise a beautiful child on your own, Aomine-kun.’ Kuroko stretched his arm across the table and grabbed Aomine’s hand. ‘You are a good man, and a wonderful father.’

A tear managed to escape from Aomine’s eye, but he immediacy crushed it. He wouldn’t cry. Seven years later, he wouldn’t cry. Not again. Not there, anyway.

‘Thank you, Tetsu. For real.’

‘It’s okay, Aomine-kun. We are here to help.’

‘You see, a few nights ago I meet a woman, and got so distracted with her that when I got home Daichi was already asleep. She was there with me, in my house, and I didn’t told her I had a son.’

Kukoro listened patiently and nodded. He knew all about Aomine’s hook ups, and didn’t approve them at all. Aomine was just deceiving himself, and they both knew it.

‘You didn’t tell her because you knew the next day you wouldn’t remember her name, and by next week you would have forgotten all about her. You just don’t want such cheap women to get close to your son.’

‘Yeah, because I’m trying to set a good example for Daichi. And you’re right – the women I take to bed are cheap and unfulfilling, and not even Daichi likes the ones he sometimes sees leaving the house by morning. I guess I was never one to successfully set up a proper example, right? Especially when I bring home a different woman every night.’

‘You’re just lost, and trying to make up for your mistakes.’

‘Those very same mistakes that, according to you, cannot ever be repaid, am I right?’

Kuroko nodded in silence, and they both spent the next half hour looking at the playground across the mall, where a redhead and, sometimes, a little blue happy head could be spotted.

‘You asked what I was thinking’, Aomine recalled after a very long time, ‘when I slept with Satsuki, so I’ll tell you – I was thinking about me, about my future, and how scared I was. I was so young and I had everything – I had him, I had basketball and I had a scholarship. I was so young and I was moving in with him. I was so young and I’d play basketball for one of the best teams. I was so young and I’d be given the chance to study for free… _as long as I set a proper example for the university and the community I was in_. I’m not kidding, when I filled in the university forms this sentence was there.’

‘And you couldn’t set up a proper example if you were with Kise-kun’, Kuroko understood. ‘Still, that reason wasn’t enough –’

‘I know, I know! And I guess it would be fine if I continued dating him… but I couldn’t know for sure. But what I _did_ know was that people weren’t expecting that from me. My family, many of my friends… they expected me to date Satsuki. Can you imagine, me and Satsuki?’, Aomine let out an amused chuckle. ‘It was such a ridicule idea! We would never work as a couple, _never_. We were good friends and that was it, and both of us knew it. We had some drinks that night, more than we should, and laughed at that idea. Still, I felt so pressured by those who believed that I’d marry Satsuki, have kids, study, get good grades… I was eighteen, for God’s sake! I just wanted to play basketball… and be by _his_ side… Somehow, after a stupid mistake, I ended up without any.’ Aomine exhaled exhaustedly, letting his eyes wander off to the window. Outside, above the creek near the mall these was a small bridge where he and his boyfriend used to hang out all the time. ‘Kise… I miss him every day’, Aomine admitted, letting his head rest on his arms, his voice muffled by his clothes, or maybe by his sadness.

‘He’s back now. It might be impossible for you to play basketball, but you can still have him. I believe you can.’

 ‘We were pretty good, weren’t we?’, Aomine asked, his mind lost in their Teikõ days and his matches against Kagami and Tetsu, and that other match against Kise; it was then that his feelings became clear. ‘Playing basketball, I mean.’

‘We are more than good, Aomine-kun. We were the elites.’

‘How humiliating’, Aomine sighed. ‘So many hopes, so many dreams, so many promises… and look at me now. It’s almost shameful to end up like this.’

‘Yeah, look at you now, Aomine-kun. You have made mistakes, but you grew up. We’re not that children anymore. We’ve changed; for better or for worse we’ve changed and matured. It’s been seven years, maybe it’s time to forgive yourself, and give yourself another opportunity. Maybe that way I can also forgive you completely.’

‘It’s going to be hard, Tetsu.’

‘And you have always liked things that way. You haven’t changed that about you. Now go, Aomine-kun, go and get Kise-kun. I really miss my friends, and I’d like them back.’


	4. Ribbons

Kise had to leave because it was too painful for him to stay. After things got bad with Aomine he had to leave town. God, he was so young and dumb! He was almost eighteen, almost finishing high school; still, his modeling career was uncertain and he had no plans for university or whatsoever. All he knew was that he loved Aomine, and they were moving in together. _They were not even eighteen._ Now it all sounded rash and ridiculous, but Kise always knew they could have pulled it off. All of his future plan’s included Aomine, and that’s why he felt so broke when all of his dreams were violently stripped away when Momoi’s belly started to get bigger. Without Aomine by his side who was he? Just a loner in an oversized flat, without a higher education or a solid job. That’s why when his current agency sought him out he quickly said yes to their contract. And when they say it involved moving away he said yes once again, without thinking twice.

He had learned the true from Momoi. She had just told Aomine about her pregnancy test, and then she told Kise, also explaining how and why it had happened. She looked devastated and exhausted, with bags under her bloodshot eyes, so different from the beautiful friend he used to know. So ugly. And pregnant. Momoi was pregnant with Aomine’s child. The betrayal broke him into a million pieces; it broke his love with Aomine and it began tearing apart his friendship with his other friends. And thus Kise left, although it was the hardest thing he had ever done. He was heartbroken and he need his friends; he missed them every day… and he missed Aomine as well; more than everyone he missed his lover and best friend, the one who betrayed him. After everything, he still missed Aomine, and that infuriated him, but it was also a sign that he had made the right move when he left. He was not ready to forgive Aomine’s betrayal, and sure as hell he wouldn’t be able to stand by his side while he and Momoi tried to improvise a family for the baby who was growing inside her.

Lost in thoughts Kise let his eyes follow with the creek’s stream. _Aominecchi’s son_ … He wondered how the kid looked like; would he have his mother’s hair and his father’s eyes? Or would it be the other way around? Would Kise be able to look at him without hating him? Kise shook his head violently and got up from the wooden garden bench. Poor kid, he was only a child, and a very good one for what Kuroko had told him. He couldn’t hate a child, especially Aomine’s son, who had brought so much joy to the person Kise loved most on this world.

Kise started climbing the bridge over the creek. Did he just imagined Aomine was the person he loved the most?! Damn, he was such a fool! Still, he had so little friends, so little people who he could trust, it was no wonder that the boy who broke his heart was still the man he loved most.

The bridge was a wooden one, flanked by iron bars and a thick handrail. It could be just a plain little bridge getting rusty near the mall, but it was much more than that. For many years couples would come to that bridge and tie up a colorful ribbon around the iron bars. It was the city’s own local version of the Pont des Arts, but with ribbons instead of locks. Although some ribbons were almost gray and turned to rags, they were still there, giving the bridge a lovely look. Oh, but now they were so many more ribbons since the last time he had been on that bridge! In both sides of the bridge the cold iron bars had almost completely disappeared behind colorful strips.

Kise stood on that bridge for long seconds, looking down. He and Aomine used to go there all of the time. They would go out together after classes, and head to the mall to watch a movie, or just have a snack and play basketball on the nearby open court. But they had also left something of theirs on that bridge, as a couple. On Valentine’s Day Kise had dragged Aomine there, and they tangled two strips – a yellow one and a blue one – with their names, and tied the ribbon there, on western side of the bridge, on the fourth bar counting from the left. Kise gave little anxious steps towards the location he knew too well. On their second Valentine’s Day it was Aomine’s turn to bring Kise there and present him with the ribbon they tied under their previous one.

Kise squatted down and ran his fingers through anonymous ribbons of multiple colors. His and Aomine’s ribbons should have been gone, or Kise would yank out those old dead ribbons himself!

But they weren’t. They were old, pale, ugly and stained by the weather, but they were still there. Two stubborn ribbons, still together even if their owners weren’t. Kise had gone off to another continent and Aomine had become a father, and still those ribbons were there, as they felt them years ago. But there weren’t just two ribbons. There was a third, and forth, and fifth, and sixth, and a seventh, and an eighth. On that iron bar there were eight ribbons, all made with yellow and blue strips, each one looking younger and more colorful than the other.

Although the handwriting was faint and washed out on the first two ribbons, Kise could still recognize Aomine’s handwriting on the blue strip – _Aomine Daiki_ – and his own on the yellow one – _Kise Ryouta._ Bewildered, Kise ran his fingers across the third ribbon. _Aomine Daiki_ – it was written with Aomine’s handwriting on the blue strip. _I’m sorry_ , _pretty boy; I miss you every day; I love you…_ – were the messages on the yellow strips. With his knees on the ground Kise read the messages on those ribbons that he didn’t know about, all of them signed with one name only – _Aomine Daiki_.


	5. Better half

‘ _Are you going to talk to Kise?_ ’, Kagami wanted to know on the other end of the line.

‘Just shut up about it, Kagami! I’m tired of that conversation!’, Aomine snapped. He really was getting fed up with Kuroko and Kagami’s insistences. At least Kuroko was understanding and cautious about the subject; his boyfriend, on the other hand, was just stubborn and blunt.

‘ _So you’re just going to sit around and do nothing?!_ ’

‘When you put it that way it seems like I’m fine and this doesn’t affect me, so I’m really cool with all this shit. But I’m not, Kagami. I’m not, and I really want to do something, but it’s complicated.’

‘ _With you things are always complicated_ ’, Kagami said scornfully, and Aomine could almost see him rolling his eyes.

‘Just forget it! You don’t understand!’, Aomine bawled, ready to hang up.

‘ _Wait! Hey, are you listening, Ahomine? Don’t you dare telling me to forget it! I stood by you when this shit blew up, so you’re gonna listen to be now, like it or not! Because I_ do _understand! I understand how scary it can be to talk with the one you love most; I know what it feels like to look at the one you love but you’re too much of a coward to just go there and hold his hand.  After all these years Kise has finally come back, so man up and go talk to him!_ ’

‘It’s been seven years, you idiot!’

‘ _Exactly! Seven years without the one you love!_ ’

‘Seven years for Kise to hate me!’

‘ _Seven years for him to forgive you! And seven years to miss you.’_

 ‘Nope, I’m pretty such all he did was hating me.’

‘ _Do you think he’s that heartless? He loved you –_ ’

‘And I betrayed him. And now Tetsu says he’s changed and I understand why. I hurt him. And he was alone.I had you. He had no one.’

‘ _Maybe that’s why he’s back… Maybe he needs someone. Maybe he needs you, have you taught of that?_ ’

With blurry eyes Aomine looked at the TV. Damn, the game had ended he didn’t even noticed it. He was so dumb… So dumb… He was an adult, a father, a policeman… then why did he still feel like that oblivious angry teenager he was in the beginning of high school?

‘I hadn’t thought of that.’

‘ _Of course you hadn’t, you dumbass!_ _So, what are you going to do_?’

Aomine shrugged his shoulders and grab the remote.

‘You’ve just made me miss the last quarter of the _Heat_ ’s game, so I’ll just hang up on you and re-watch it.’

‘ _Don’t bother, they lost. They’re nothing without LeBron James. Seriously man, what are you doing to do?_ ’

Aomine closed his eyes and ran his hand through his sweaty forehead. What was he going to do? What was he going to do? His head felt like it was going to explode. Shouldn’t adults just do things and get them over with?

‘I can’t think right now’, he finally gave up. ‘Your voice is too annoying. I liked you better when you were oblivious and thick!’

‘ _Just give our conversation some thought, okay? Kise is staying at his flat before he works things out with the real-estate._ ’

‘Whatever. Bye.’

‘ _Wait!_ ’

‘What?!’, Aomine grunted, laying his heavy-body on the couch. ‘Are you going to say some inspiring final words before you hang up?’

‘ _You already know it all. Just don’t fuck up._ ’

Aomine threw his phone across the living room and closed his eyes. It was his day off, he deserved some rest. But sleep wouldn’t come. Images and voices ran through his mind, as vivid as if he was watching a movie. He opened an eye and peered at his display window, with all his trophies and best photographs. All of his memories were there, but it was all they were – memories. Now there was not basketball, no Teikõ, no Tõõ. He stared at a picture of him and Kise. Now there was no Kise.

If having Daichi in his life meant having no basketball, Aomine was delighted to pay that price. He would pay that price a million times to have a son like Daichi by his side, someone he could love and hug, someone who would bring laugher and joy to his life; even in the darkest days, Daichi was his sunshine and hope. But Kise’s presence was priceless, and Aomine needed it. He needed someone who could bring out the best of him. Kuroko said he was a good man? A good father? Na, he wasn’t. He needed his better half by his side.

Aomine jumped from the couch and scanned the floor of his living room in search for his cellphone. When he found it, he quickly dialed Daichi’s nanny number.

‘Nanao-san, I know this could be troublesome for you, but could you please pick up Daichi from school and nurse him for some time? Something came up and I have to leave.’   


	6. Old photographs

Absentmindedly Kise walked over to Aomine’s flat building. It was so different from everything Kise had imagined – it was plain, modest, secluded… fatherly. Or maybe it was just a regular building and Kise was still thinking about the flat they could have shared, the live they could have had together over the past seven years… all of that wasted in one night, in one mistake. Such high dreams, to end up like that…

He remember how angry he was at Kuroko at the coffee shop. He felt a terrible person then, and he hadn’t even realized he had become so bitter and petty. He had all the reason to be mean, but not with Kuroko. He was just trying to help, and Kise showed him his worse side, one that not even himself knew. Over the past years he had bottled up everything inside and didn’t realized he had become so ugly. Still, although he was so rude with Kuroko his friend still answered his call, still listened to him, still explained him the way to Aomine’s flat. Kise would never be able to repay Kuroko enough for everything he had done, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try to.

When Kise felt more calm he entered the building and took the stairs, so it would take him longer to get to the tenth floor. Slow and scared as a snail, Kise approached Aomine’s door and hold out his finger… but his body just froze before he could ring the doorbell. Maybe he should have called before showing up. Or maybe he shouldn’t have come at all. It had been seven years. Not seven days, nor seven weeks, nor seven months, but _seven years_. What if _everything_ had changed? Kise had changed, and he been awful towards Kuroko… was he really ready to face Aomine? Especially after leaving without even a word seven years ago? Wasn’t it better to just let sleepy dogs lie? If Kise entered that house he would just suffer again, and bring Aomine the same amount of pain… and they were adults now. They weren’t carefree children. Kise had a career, Aomine had a son… everything had changed, they had changed; so yes, it would be better to just walk away. He turned his back at the door and started to make his way towards the staircase… _but the ribbons_! The colorful ribbons he had seen on the bridge still waved vividly on his mind, and they made him stop on his tracks, unable to move, able to decide.

‘Wait up!’, a childish voice called, awaking Kise from his thoughts. ‘Wait, sir, don’t leave!’ Kise made the mistake of looking back, and it was when he saw him – with his father’s hair and the same deepness in his cheerful violet eyes, Aomine’s son was calling him from his doorway.

‘Daichi-kun, your father and I have told you – _never open the door_!’, a gruff voice scolded. ‘And who are you talking to?’

‘I know him, Nanao-san!’ The kid pointed at Kise as an old lady appear at the door. ‘It’s him’

‘Don’t go around pointing your finger at people, Daichi-kun, that’s rude. Now, get back inside, young man.’

‘No, wait –’

‘I’m sorry, sir’, the lady apologized to Kise. ‘This boy is just restless.’

‘It’s okay, I was just passing by. Have a nice day.’

‘Wait, liar! You’re Daddy’s friend!’

‘Daichi!’, the lady exclaimed. I’m sorry, sir. It seems that –’

‘He’s the one from Daddy’s picture! It’s him, I’ll prove it! Just wait here, Nanao-san! And don’t let him leave!’

The lady gave Kise an apologetic look, obviously embarrassed.

‘I’m sorry, my young man, but Daichi-kun sometimes is just incontrollable. He means well, though. Takes after his father.’

‘I’m sure he does’, Kise nodded with a sweet smile. ‘Bye, then’, he said, although he didn’t move. 

‘Wait, I know you’, the woman squinted her eyes as her face lightened up in acknowledgment. ‘You’re that model, and Aomine-san’s friend!’

‘Well… Perhaps I am. Why?’

‘Wonderful, come on in, if you please.’

‘I would rather no—’

‘Nonsense, c’mon! Aomine-san will be thrilled to see you!’

Kise gave a step back. Things were getting out of hand.

‘I don’t thin—’

The nanny gave some quick short steps towards Kise, grabbing his hand and pulling him inside the house.

‘Aomine-san has been so down lately. Well, don’t tell him I’ve told you that, please. He doesn’t like when people worry about him; he’s proud like that, you know? So I’m happy that you’ve showed up. He will like seeing you, I’m sure. He’s always looking at old photographs’, the woman said, aiming at all the portraits spread around the living room.

‘But since he isn’t here maybe I’ll swing by la–’

‘Nonsense! Make yourself comfortable!’

‘But I really have to go’, Kise insisted, but the woman was just relentless

‘Aomine-san will be here shortly, just give him some more minutes. Now, I’d really appreciated if you could look after Daichi-kun.’

‘Wait, _what_?!’, Kise squeaked. He should had made a run for it when he had the chance!

‘He seemed to like you, so—’

‘He doesn’t even know me! _You_ don’t know me! I’m a stranger!’

‘Nonsense, you’re Aomine-san’s friend. And you seem such a nice boy! I’m sorry to impose such responsibility on you, but I also have my own grandchildren to look after; they’re older than Daichi-kun, of course, but I left them alone and it’s getting late.’ The lady picked up her bag and before Kise could mutter another word she left, saying only: ‘Thank you, young man! Good luck!’

‘Wait!’, Kise screamed at the closed door. ‘I hate kids’, he whispered. ‘And she didn’t even ask me my name!’

‘Look, you’re this one!’, that childish voice called him again. With a grunt Kise turned to face the brat. The kid was holding a portrait with a picture of his Teikõ days. Oh, he remembered that day! It was after a nice training session; everyone was feeling good so Murasakibara managed to convince them to get some ice cream – even Midorima tagged along; he was the one who took the picture, since he didn’t like to be photographed. Murasakibara, of course, had brought a whole box of ice cream for him, and Aomine began regretting not doing the same, so he basically jumped over Kise, grabbed his arm and started eating his ice cream. They both end up falling to the ground, and Kuroko somehow got a huge ice cream stain on his uniform; that was when Midorima decided he had had enough and walked away. They were a mess, laying on the floor all dirty, but all Kise and Aomine did was laugh their butt off. Fine long lost memories of a time when they were innocent, and everything was easy. Little did Kise know that the blue haired dork would be the one to steal his heart some years later. ‘Hey, you listening?’ With a jolt, Kise came back to the present. ‘What’s your name?’

‘Ki-Kise’, he mumbled. ‘I’m Kise. And you must be Aominecchi’s son, Daichi.’

Confused, the child squinted his eyes at Kise.

‘ _Aominichi_ … What?! But yeah, I’m my Daddy’s son! Listen, is your hair really yellow?’

Kise gave Daichi a half-smile and raised one of his perfect eyebrows.

‘Are _you_ really asking me that question, you blue-haired brat?’

‘Okay, okay’, Daichi laughed. He had Aomine’s wide mischievous grin, ‘you don’t have to get defensive about it! C’mon, Kise-kun. Daddy has a tone of pictures and albums! I’ll show them to you.’ Excited, the kid took Kise’s hand and led him into the living room.

‘Thanks, but it’s best—’

‘Look, here is where Daddy keeps his favorite things’, said the kid pointing towards an obviously big display window. There were many shining trophies and more photos of Teikõ’s Basketball Team, some of his days at Tõõ Academy and many amazing perfectly timed photos of Aomine’s electrifying dunks. ‘Daddy loves this. Sometimes he spends hours here, just looking.’

Swallowing hard, Kise approached the display window and touched the glass. On the other side there was a picture of Aomine and him, his lover with Tõõ’s black and Kise with Kaijõ’s blue. Their schools were participating in some tournament and both of them had secured their place at the finals. They were dressed with rival uniforms, but at the time they were already dating, and their proximity and big smile gave that away. At that time winning was everything for him, especially against Aomine, but now he couldn’t even remember who had won. The only memory of that day, besides that photo, was that Aomine had pulled him into the shadows before the final match and kissed him, deeply and passionately.

‘You like that one? Daddy has more on his bedroom. But I have here an album! Look!’

Daichi climbed to the couch and open the fat album on his lap. Hesitantly, Kise walked up to the couch and joined the boy, sitting beside him.

‘This is a big album with old photos’, the kid began. ‘Look! This is Uncle-Murasaki! And he is really, really tall! Even bigger than Daddy, can you believe it?! He always has sweets, but he almost never shares’, Daichi said pouting his lips. ‘But he’s cool! And now he makes cakes, so he usually bakes and wants me to try them. This is Uncle-Midori! I don’t know him very well and I almost never see him. Daddy says he’s in another country studying to be a doctor and make people feel better. You can see that he’s really smart because he wears glasses. He doesn’t appear in many photos, and he never smiles. He should smile more. Every nice doctor has to smile, don’t you think?!’ Before Kise could even come up with an answer the kid flipped the page. ‘Here’s Uncle-Tetsu! Look well, or you don’t see him! But he’s always around. He works at my school and he is really _really_ nice! All the kids love him! Oh, here’s Akashi! Is almost as small as Uncle-Tetsu, but Daddy says he was scary. I mean, he has pink hair, can he be scary like that?’

Kise couldn’t help but to let out a loud laugh. That kid was hilarious!

‘Don’t you ever tell him that, or he’ll show you scary!’

‘Okay, if you say it’s true. You seem nice. Look, here you are! You’re always laughing. And you’re always with Daddy!’

‘Yeah, we… we were really good friend.’

‘Oh, really?’, Daichi replied sadly. ‘Well… Can I tell you a secret? Without you getting mad?’

Kise looked suspiciously at the Daichi. He was afraid of what he had to say, but he wanted to hear it nevertheless. His curiosity always took the best of him.

‘It’s okay, I promise. Go ahead.’

‘Daddy never talks about you. I see your photos, but Daddy never told me about you. I never saw Akashi, and saw Uncle-Midori some times, but Daddy talks about them. But never about you... Why’s that?’

‘He never…?’ _He never talks about me?_ , Kise wondered. Well, it was expected that Aomine wouldn’t tell to his six years-old son about his old boyfriend, but those words hurt. It sounded as if Kise never had existed… but surely Aomine thought about him; those ribbons with the sweet messages were proof of that. ‘Well, your Daddy and I had a fight some years ago, so maybe he doesn’t like to talk about me.’

Disappointed, Daichi shook his head.

‘That doesn’t sound like Daddy at all – he says that we should never hurt people, never hurt their feelings.’ The kid gave Kise a suspicious glare. ‘Are you here to fight Daddy?!’, he asked startled.

 ‘No, I’m not’, Kise reassured him with a smile. ‘I’ve missed your dad. And I wanted to see him. Maybe… maybe I want us to be friends again.’ But now Aomine wasn’t there, and he had to listen to his son talking about those pictures… those perfect moments now frozen in that album, growing old, fading away. All of his life was turning to pictures.

‘When you and Daddy fight, did you hurt him?’

‘Well… yeah. And he hurt me. That’s what happens when people fight.’

‘So why you wanna be friends again?’, he inquired. It sounded as if the kid was protecting his father from being hurt… if he only knew the whole story!

‘Because I’ve missed him. And I believed he missed me two. So maybe we could be friends again, you see? Start all over and forget the past.’

‘Oh, that’s nice!’, Daichi approved with a smile. ‘Daddy has good friends. Like I said, you’re a nice guy. You’ll be my uncle too!’, he exclaimed with bright happy eyes, hugging Kise’s waist. ‘Uncle-Kise!’ Kise suppressed his will to grunt and looked down at that kid who so firmly encircle his waist. Kuroko was right – Daichi really was a nice lovely boy. Aomine had made a perfect job - he, who was always so reckless and irresponsible; he, who was so scared about embracing parenthood; he, who ended up raising his son alone. _Love really changes a person_ , Kise realized. With a soft smile he patted the kid’s blue hair, so soft and wild.

Still cuddling next to Kise Daichi flipped another page of the album.

‘This is my Mom’, Daichi pointed at a selfie taken in Teikõ, in a time where selfies were far from being a thing. They were at the gym, and Aomine was holding the camera up high. Momoi was right next to Aomine and Kise was hugging her; on the back there were Midorima and Akashi, Kuroko’s hair and Murasakibara’s torso, unable to fully appear on the picture. ‘You knew Mom!’

Kise looked attentively at the picture. They would have been fourteen or fifteen at the time it was taken, a decade ago. It’s so weird how time runs by, sometimes so quickly, other times so sluggishly.

‘Does your dad ever talk about her?’

Daichi shrugged his shoulders.

‘When I ask he talks. And that’s it. It makes him sad to talk about her. I can see that in his face. He said that Mom had to leave. That she loved me, but had to leave because she wanted what was best for me.’

‘Every mother loves their children. Even if she isn’t here with you, I bet she thinks about you all the time’, Kise guaranteed with a warm smile. _Poor kid…_ Kise didn’t even venture how it felt to grow up without a mother. They say you can’t miss someone you have never meet, but that’s not the case with mothers. There’s something really special about a mother that makes her irreplaceable and essential.

 ‘If she loved why leave?’, Daichi insisted. ‘I don’t make this question to Daddy and my uncles because they never answer! It makes them sad to talk about Mom… but sometimes it makes me sad when they don’t talk. It feels like she never existed. But I’m here, so she existed. And I wanna talk about her.’

Kise felt his heart tighten on his chest. Should he hate Momoi? Because, right now, he couldn’t find on himself the strength to hate her. He had hated for too long, and now he was tired. Tired of being alone, tired of being bitter, tired of being hurt, tired of being angry at the past. Suddenly he realize that he couldn’t hate Momoi anymore, and that left him uncomfortable. He still loved his friend, that sweet girl on the photo; but now that he was no longer able to hate the woman she had become, he could only feel sorry for her. He couldn’t help but to feel sad for himself, for Momoi and for Aomine, whose future had been shattered. Their future had forever been altered by the little boy who was so sweetly cuddling next to him, and Kise couldn’t hate him either.

‘I knew your mother; we were good friend. Do you want me to tell you about her?’

 ‘Yes, please!’ Daichi pleaded with shining eyes.

Kise nodded and placed the album aside. With his left arm he embraced the kid’s body.

‘Okay… let’s see’, he mumbled, sorting through his memories. Where should he start? What should he say? It had been so long since he recalled a happy moment with Momoi, and those had happen so many years ago…

‘Are you okay? You’re making that face! The face that Uncle-Tetsu does when he thinks about my Mom!’

‘Yeah, I’m okay. It’s just that… I haven’t thought about your mother in a long time… and I really miss her. I didn’t know it, but I miss her. She was a really good friend, you know? One of the best I’ve ever had! She was very sweet and gentle, and only wanted to make her friends happy. Yeah… she wanted us to be happy… all of us, because she really cared about us. Every time me and your dad had a fight she would be really sad about it… she would even cry. She was like that – always putting other people’s feelings ahead her owns. She was sensitive, and also very intelligent. She helped us to improve the basketball team, and even though she was a girl we never looked down on her. She was our friend, and we respected her. She was very professional and committed. She truly was the heart of our team… even when junior high ended she was the one that encouraged us to stay in touch. She hated to be away from her friends. And she loved your dad very much. They were good friends, and your mom was one of the few people your dad would listen to, one of the few who understood him. She was also very beautiful. Every guy wanted to date her and be her boyfriend. She told me that one time she was walking down the street with your dad, and there was a man passing by that made her feel uncomfortable, so your dad went after him and… well, he taught him a lesson’, Kise said with a laugh. ‘Your parents were really close, and they were good friends. And then you were born, and your mom got so scared. She got scared because she loved you _so much_ , and she wanted you to have a great happy live, but she was afraid she couldn’t give you that. That’s why she had to leave – she left so that you could be happy with your dad. She’s not here because she loves you, and wants you to be as happy as possible, you understand? Daichi?’

When Kise looked down the boy had fallen asleep. He had fallen asleep with his little blue head on Kise’s belly and he hadn’t even noticed. When did that happen? Did he hear the whole story? Did he understand how loving his mother was? She had made huge mistakes in her life, but that didn’t (or shouldn’t had) erase their friendship. Momoi was a great friend, and she got too caught up in Aomine’s troubles. All she wanted to do was help, all she wanted was to see them happy… yes, she had betrayed Kise, and he hated her for that, but he also loved her. He loved her friend and he missed her like crazy.

With slow gentle movements, trying hard not to awake Daichi, Kise grabbed the album once again and started flipping its pages. So many photos, so many memories… Somehow, seeing that album full of happy moments left him empty and hollow, because he wished to go back, _but he couldn’t_. The pictures from their Teikõ days disappeared and gave place to high school photos at Tõõ Academy. New places, new friends – Wakamatsu, Sakurai, Imayoshi, Kagami -, but old reassuring faces as well – his own face, Kuroko, Momoi… They were great, and Kise missed them all.


	7. Stay... please

Aomine spent seven years imagining _when_ and _how_ he would he see Kise again; not just his pretty face on a magazine, but actually _see_ him, look at his bright golden eyes, hear the sound his voice and feel his body warmth again. He had literality _dreamt_ of that day, but not even in his wildest dreams he would imagine that one day he would find Kise sleeping in his couch, cuddling with his son.

In a limp of courage he had gone over to Kise’s apartment to talk to him, but Aomine wasn’t able to find him. However, in surprising change of events, after seven years Kise was standing right _there_ , Daichi’s nanny was nowhere to be found and Aomine had to pinch himself a couple of times to be sure that _this_ was actually happening. But the situation was indeed all too real and, as usual, Aomine wasn’t ready.

On autopilot Aomine carefully picked his son from the couch – holding his breath so he wouldn’t awake anyone – and took him to his bedroom, tugging him under the covers with a kiss. Okay, that problem was solved. But what should he do about Kise? He thought about calling Kuroko or Kagami, but he was so nervous that his fingers couldn’t possible work their way through his phone… and truth be told, Aomine didn’t want them there.

Aomine entered the living room as if he was walking on eggshells. Silently he picked up his photo album and sat on the chair opposite to the couch where Kise was sleeping. Aomine began looking at old photographs… and everything was so messed up. He was looking at the pictures, and then at Kise, and he seemed the same. Aomine got up from his chair and approached Kise, leaning down on him, running his fingers through his smooth hair. The same golden hair, the same bubbly face even in his sleep, the same perfect eyebrows, the same porcelain skin, the same pinkish lips… Softly, Aomine caressed Kise’s cheek, closing down the distance between their faces, his blue eyes once again dazed by the lips of that man who used to be his boyfriend. And he was there again, and Aomine could one again hear his steady breath, smell his inebriant scent, feel his body, his warmth… It was as if no time had passed, as if they were both still young and nothing had happened or changed… and yet it had been seven years, and everything was different. With a curse Aomine walked away from the couch and sat tensely on the chair. Once again he let his eyes wondered across old photographs… but he was tired of looking at them, tired of seeing there what he didn’t have now. Suddenly, all those pictures and memories he cherished weren’t enough anymore. None of them would replace what he most wanted.

‘Hey… Aominecchi…’

Aomine’s blood froze and, before his heart stopped, he could somehow manage to use the heavy album to cover his face. _Just… fuck!_ Even his brain had abandoned him.

‘I’m sorry I came’, Kise continued shyly. ‘I just… I don’t know what I was thinking.’

 _It’s okay. I was also looking for you. I’m glad you came. Please, stay_ , Aomine wanted to say, but his mouth was too stiff and he was afraid his heart would jump out if he opened it.

‘Aominecchi?’ Aomine could hear him moving uncomfortably on the couch. Shit, he really should say something. He was the one who got them into that whole mess to begin with. ‘Could you just… say something? Please… Aominecchi?’ “ _Man up and go talk to him!_ ”, Kagami had told him. _That dammed Bakagami and his annoying voice_. ‘All right, I’m leaving then’, Kise said, and Aomine could hear the determination in his voice.

‘ _Don’t_!’, Aomine exclaimed, and he hated how desperate his voice sounded. Angrily shaking his head Aomine threw the album aside and got up. He look straight at Kise and repeated, this time more composedly: ‘Don’t go. Sit down. Stay… please.’

Nodding reluctantly Kise approached the couch and sat heavily on it. Aomine went around the coffee table and sat on the opposite end, the gap between them illustrating their awkwardness and tension. The silence was almost unbearable. When Aomine wasn’t looking at him with such deep wondering eyes Kise found it easy to speak, but now… There were no words, so he just avoided looking at Aomine’s face while his nervous fingers kept stretching and pulling the hem of his shirt.

‘Want me to fetch you something?’, Aomine asked while Kise negatively shook his head. ‘Some water? Beer? Something to eat?’

‘No, I’m good. Thanks.’

Aomine looked away and rolled his eyes. If Kise had said yes he could go over to the kitchen, relax a little and think about something smart to say… but now they had to endure the unsettling silence.

‘I heard from Tetsu you were back in town’, Aomine said neutrally, trying to endeavor into a pointless shallow conversation to break the ice.

‘Yeah, I had to get to take care of some… business’, Kise explained, and Aomine understood that he didn’t want to talk about the flat he was selling; the flat they could have been sharing now.

‘Have you been with the guys?’

‘Just with Kurokocchi.’ Kise shrugged his shoulders and leaned back on the couch, staring at the ceiling. ‘There aren’t many of us left’, he remarked sadly, ‘from “the guys”, I mean. Everyone has either moved away or has been too caught up on their own lives.’

‘Like you’, Aomine sharply replied, maybe a little too harshly.

‘Yes, like me. That’s what it means to be an adult, and I think I did pretty well’, Kise said haughtily, his smile all cocky and taunting. Was this what Kuroko was referring to when he said that Kise had changed?

‘Yeah, you did. And I’m glad’, Aomine said more softly. ‘But what about basketball?’

Once again Kise simply shrugged his shoulders, uninterested. _Since when did he have such a dispassionate reaction towards basketball?!_

‘A couple of universities had showed interested in me, but my left foot was always giving me a hard time, so I sort of gave up on the idea.’

“Sort of gave up on the idea”? Aomine shook his head, disappointed. Kise would _never_ give on anything, _never_! Especially basketball.

‘Kobe Bryant is injured _again_ ’, Aomine informed, trying to get Kise’s attention. Kobe had always been Kise’s favorite player, the one Kise dreamed to become one day; maybe that would bring back some memories. ‘It sounds serious – he’s out of the _All Star Game_ and it’s the end of this season for him.’

‘Yeah, sucks for him. His career is pretty much over now.’

‘Some said that, but he assures his coming back next year, even stronger.’

‘They all say that’, Kise said dismissively, and their conversation died once again.

An even longer silence followed, during which Kise grew even more agitated. It seemed like he was building up the courage to say something, but failing miserably. If things continued that way, Kise would end up leaving once again, and Aomine would be left without nothing. This time he wouldn’t let him leave without a word. It was time for both of them to face the music.

‘I’ve missed you’, Aomine blurted out in a leap of courage.

Kise’s eyes immediately raised from his lap and landed on Aomine.

‘What?!’

‘I went over to your flat this afternoon, but you weren’t there, obviously.’

‘Why did you go there?’, Kise asked uneasily, shaking his nervous leg.

‘It’s like I said – I’ve missed you, and you I knew you were back… I couldn’t let you get away. Not again’, Aomine added faintly. He was stepping on dangerous ground and he was well aware of that.

Kise moved uncomfortably on the couch.

‘Let’s… let’s not do this, okay?’

‘Do what?’, Aomine asked, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head.

‘Let’s not talk about it, Aominecchi. Let’s not talk about the past.’

‘But… I thought you were here for that – to talk about the past, to hear what I had to say, to see me miserable… We didn’t get to talk much when… when _it_ happened. And then you left. And I understand why you had to leave – I hurt you, and made it impossible for you to stay. I made you feel unwanted. And I hate myself for that.’

‘And you should hate yourself! And I should have hated you! Because you’re right! You made me feel like I wasn’t enough for you, and that was what hurt the most. You know I’d always run after you; I’d always come crying to you; I’d have followed wherever you wanted, because I was stupid and in love like that, right? I was always _me_ trying to catch up to _you_ … and I just wasn’t enough, was I?’

Aomine remained silent, thoughtful as Kise looked away from him and let his teary eyes wander around the room. Although his fists were clenched and his posture was menacing his eyes and his broken voice reveled his old sadness. Aomine moved a few inches further on the couch and hold out his hand, but he wasn’t able to reach Kise. Although he was right there, almost at arms’ length, Aomine could not hold him.

‘I loved you Kise. I loved you with all my heart, but I fucked up. I felt trapped and pressured by my family. I was scared about my future… but I knew I wanted you in it. I know that there are no excuses, that an apology isn’t enough, but that’s all I can give you.

You were more than enough for me, you hear me? You were everything I wanted, everything I needed… but I was too caught up on my own problems and I messed up. It was _my_ mistake, Kise, it was _my_ fault. I was the one who was not good enough for you… and I regret it. I really do. You were my best friend, my boyfriend, the one that really understood me… You were everything I had… And I hurt you. You were the one I always wanted to protect, and in the end I was the one to cause you pain.’

Kise stole a quick glance from Aomine. The tanned one seemed old, exhausted, and sleepless, with his face marked by all his stiff frowning. Kise shift his gaze and looked at the pictures of the smiling young boy in the display window, the boy he loved. It was hard to believe that only seven years had passed. Aomine seemed much older.

‘When did you became like this?’, Kise asked on a lighter tone, trying to deviate the conversation. ‘You’re so calm… and thoughtful… and mature. Somehow I always guessed you’d be that boy forever.’ Kise looked over to the display window. ‘The boy I loved’, he whispered, wiping away a stubborn tear with his sleeve. ‘The boy I could never hate… even after that whole mess… I wasn’t able to hate you, because I loved you. Gosh, how I wished I was able to hate you! It’s so easy to hate someone! I know because all this time I thought I hated Momoicchi, but now… I just feel so bad about all this.’

‘Don’t be.’ Carefully, Aomine approached Kise once again and grabbed the hand he absentmindedly rested on the couch. The blond automatically jerked and tried to move away, but Aomine didn’t let him go. He grabbed him tightly and firmly; almost painfully.

‘Don’t feel bad. You should be the last of us to feel bad about it. I’m sorry, Ryouta. I really am sorry. I’m sorry I hurt you, and I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. And I know that words won’t erase these seven years, and I’d understand if you don’t forgive me, but… It’s been seven years, and everything seems so pointless now. Pointless chit-chat, pointless drama… and I’m tired. I’m tired and I’ve missed you. It’s been seven years, and I didn’t even had the chance to say goodbye. And I understand that I didn’t deserve a goodbye, but that only made it worse. It’s been seven years and I’m tired, Ryouta. I’m tired of hurting, tired of regretting, tired of feeling sorry, tired of missing you… And I know that maybe I deserve this, I know that I was the one who fucked everything up… but I just want it to stop hurting.’

‘Aominecchi…’, Kise whispered looking at Aomine, who was trying to remain compose, strong… but was failing miserably. Although he was not crying, Kise had never seen him so broken. Hesitantly, Kise squeezed Aomine’s fingers, responding to his embrace. ‘That’s why I didn’t want to talk about this. It would only hurt us more…’

‘I know… And I guess it could end up pushing us further apart… but I had to talk about it. And I had to let you know that I’ve failed you, Ryouta… but I’ve always loved you.’

Kise let go of Aomine’s hand and leaned forward on the couch. Before he realized what he was doing, he had already taken Aomine’s crestfallen face between his hands and lifted it up. He shouldn’t be doing that, he really shouldn’t… but it felt right. It felt as right as it did seven, eight or nine years ago. It felt as good and as lovely, and his heart was beating once again and his cheeks were flustered. That sort of feeling… Kise hadn’t feel like that in a long while… and he thought he wouldn’t feel like that again; at least not towards Aomine. But he was tired of being alone, tired of running. Exhausted, Kise let his forehead rest in Aomine’s own forehead, closing his eyes.

‘I still love you, Ryouta’, Aomine whispered almost inaudibly, in a voice so faint and shy that Kise was afraid he hadn’t heard it right. ‘I won’t lie – I tried to forget you the hard way, and I’ve been out on many dates, but it didn’t last more than a couple of days. How could anyone measure up to you, pretty boy?’

‘You… You love me? After all this time…’

‘… it has been always you. Do you believe me?’

‘Yeah, I do, Aominecchi. I’ve seen proof of that.’

Aomine held Kise’s pretty face between his hands and gazed at him. He still looked so young, his skin so smooth, his hair so nice, his lips so perfect… It was hard to believe that he had been through seven hellish years as well. But Aomine loved exactly that about Kise – no matter how messed up Aomine was, Kise would always be able to draw out a smile from him, to make him laugh and forgot about his problems; someway, somehow, everything seemed always right and perfect when he looked at his boyfriend, as if he was telling him that, in the end of the day, everything would be alright. But why was he only appreciating this now? Why did he had to lose Kise in such a cruel way to realize that he was his everything? Why did it take him seven years to realize that if he could be with Kise, then everything would be alright, _no matter what_? Why did things work like that? Why was everything so messed up?

‘What do you mean, you’ve seen proof of that?’, Aomine asked suddenly, waking from his thoughts. He was never one to lose himself over his own thoughts, but somehow over the last years he very often lost himself inside his own mind, memories and old photographs.

‘The bridge… I’ve been there. And I’ve seen it – all those beautiful ribbons… so many of them… with such sweet messages.’

‘You were there?’, Aomine repeated unnecessarily, feeling the hot blood on his cheeks. Technically the ribbons were displayed in a place everyone could see, but he had always thought of them as intimate and private – his own pathetic way of saying “I’m sorry”, the only way and place he could feel close to the boyfriend he had lost.

Kise nodded and smile shyly, showing Aomine the dazzling warm smile he knew too well.

‘I thought they were beautiful. And they made me feel loved, and missed. The ribbons you left on that bridge led me here. If I hadn’t seen those, if I hadn’t gone to the bridge I wouldn’t be here, with you… listening your voice… saying that you love me.’

‘I love you, Ryouta.’

Kise chuckled and wrapped his arms around Aomine’s neck, bringing him close, their mouths separated less than an inch. He could have changed, but his eyes were still the same – beautifully blue, intense, charming, sexy…

‘Do you love me?’, Aomine whispered at Kise’s ear, caressing his flustered cheek with his thumb.

‘I do’, Kise said softly, his eyes shining bright with a smile of their own.

Aomine squeezed Kise’s body on his arms, his mouth seeking Kise’s lips for a soft peck, and then a long deep kiss, full of love, passion and longing. Seven years… how could he live without him for seven years? Aomine moved on the couch and pushed down Kise’s body, trapping him between the cushions and his hands and body.

‘I love you, Daikicchi’, Kise whispered when he regained his breath after the kiss, his hands turned into fists tightly squeezing Aomine’s shirt.

‘I’ve missed that voice saying those sweet things, calling my name’, Aomine said while nibbling the skin under Kise’s ear.

‘Ah… Aominecchi’, Kise mumbled while Aomine continued leaving a trail of kisses over his neck, his knee moving between Kise’s legs. Not long after that Kise was already moaning, his head thrown back on the couch’s arm and eyes closed as Aomine’s lips explored once more his naked chest.

‘I’ve also missed that sound’, Aomine said playfully after another loud moan.

Kise didn’t mind getting loud, though. It had been so long since he surrendered himself so honestly to someone. Still, Kise was surprised to find out that he wasn’t afraid; that he could lose himself in Aomine’s arms without being reluctant, distrustful or scared. The past was in the past, and although the scar tissue was there to show the misdoings of seven years he couldn’t continue scratching it. It would only make it bleed more, hurt him more, and enlarge his already painful wound. That couldn’t happen. Kise wouldn’t let that happen. Sometimes it’s truly best to forgive and forget; to move on and be happy. Broken bones never made anyone happy, but they eventually heal, and become stronger. Kise would also be stronger. He and Aomine would definitely be stronger together.

Aomine hold Kise’s waist while his mouth and tongue continued to travel around his navel while the blond’s body shivered under him. Where they moving too fast? Where they being hasty and manipulated by their emotions? By their longing? Aomine couldn’t say, and he honestly didn’t care. He wanted that, he wanted Kise. He loved him, and now his pretty boy was there once again, saying that he loved him. That was all that Aomine needed to know. He had a second chance at love, an opportunity to make his beautiful bubbly smiling boyfriend happy, and he would take it with all his heart. With an impatient gesture Aomine sent his shirt flying over his head.

‘Daddy…?’, the sleepy voice was accompanied by the creaking of the bed. ‘Daddy?’

‘ _Shit_ ’, Aomine hissed, abruptly crouching down on to of Kise’s body. ‘Daichi is awake?’

‘Wha-What?! Your son?!’, Kise mumbled, almost panicking. Somehow the brat liked him; he didn’t want the boy to see him like that. Kise moved his hips. Yeah, the boy could not see him like that!

Aomine silenced Kise with a quick chaste.

‘ _Shh_! You’re being too loud’, he whispered. ‘Put your shirt on and –’

‘I can’t’, Kise hissed, his eyes widening in embarrassment.

‘Oh, I see’, Aomine realized, curling his lips into a grin. ‘Too bad –’

‘Daddy, you home?’, Daichi voice was heard, this time closer.

‘Hey, champ! Daddy’s home. Just give me a sec and –’

‘Are you in the living room?’, the boy asked, opening his bedroom door.

‘Aominecchi!’, Kise whispered, startled.

‘Relax, pretty boy. I’ll take care of this’, Aomine promised reassuringly. ‘Just stay down.’

After a quick sloppy kiss Aomine rose from the couch, just in time to stop his child from entering the living room.

‘There you are!’, Aomine greeted with a smile. ‘Did you sleep well?’

‘Yeah…’, Daichi nodded, still rubbing his eye with the back of his hand. ‘Where’s your friend?’

‘Who? What friend?’, Aomine asked with a jolt.

‘Uncle-Kise. I was here and I fell asleep… I guess.’

‘Well… He had to leave.’

‘Leave…?’, Daichi squeaked sadly. He hated when people had to leave, especially without saying goodbye. And he had really liked his father’s new friend!

‘Yeah, I mean… But he’s coming back. He’s my friend; I mean, actually he’s my…’ Aomine decided to actually put together a whole coherent sentence in his head before talking. ‘Listen, Daichi, Kise will probably spent a lot of time with me, with us… here, at our house –’

‘Really?!’, the kid asked, excited. ‘That’s great!’

‘You’d like that?’, Aomine retorted with a pleased smile, ruffling his boy’s hair.

‘Yeah, a lot! Uncle-Kise is the best! He listens to me! And he tells stories! And he’s nice and funny! Can he look after me instead of Nanao-san? She’s boring! When can I see him?’

‘Calm down, Daichi’, Aomine said with a laugh. ‘Let’s take things slowly, okay?’

‘Okay, Daddy! But… why don’t you have a shirt?’, the kid asked with frowned puzzled eyebrows.

Aomine awkwardly looked down at his bare torso.

‘Well… Daddy was feeling hot.’

‘But it’s February’, the kid remarked suspiciously. 

‘Listen, why won’t you get back to your bedroom… and do something? Pick something for us to watch, okay? I’ll be right there!’

‘Awesome!’, Daichi exclaimed, heading back to the bedroom. _God, kids are so easy to fool!_

When Aomine got back to the couch he found Kise all red and shivering, already with his shirt on, trying to choke his laugher with his hands.

‘You’re so silly!’, Kise burst out.

‘I was caught off guard, okay?’, Aomine said defensively, siting over the couch’s back, hovering over Kise. ‘I guess I get silly when it comes to you.’

‘And your kid’, Kise added. ‘He is a sweet boy. You did a wonderful job as a daddy.’

Aomine opened his mouth and a light seemed to flash by his blue eyes. Before Kise could completely understand what happened Aomine shyly looked away, silently. Moved by that reaction, Kise got up from the couch and hug Aomine from behind, holding him tightly and lovely.

‘You’re a good man, Daikicchi’, Kise whispered confidently, placing a kiss over one of Aomine’s thin tears. ‘And you’re my man. Don’t you ever forget that.’


	8. We are better

‘Daichi walked on you having sex?!’, Kagami laughed obnoxiously.

‘He didn’t exactly caught us red-handed’, Aomine explained with a naughty grin. ‘He didn’t hear or see anything. He was in his bedroom. The whole time’

‘And we were _not_ having sex’, Kise felt the need to clarify while his cheeks turned red.

‘Not yet anyway’, Aomined added slyly, kissing his boyfriend on the temple.

‘Aominecchi…’, Kise mumbled blushing even more. ‘I don’t think such information is really worth sharing.’

‘You’re too cute when you get all embarrassed’, Aomine teased, making Kise stick out his tongue… and Aomine couldn’t resist but to pull him in to a quick kiss.

‘You need to be more careful’, Kuroko reasoned, skillfully ignoring the couple’s moment.

‘It won’t happened again, Kurokocchi’, Kise assured. ‘We have my flat, and Nanao-san to look after Daichi, so we’ve got everything covered.’

‘I’m glad’, said Kuroko with a little smile. ‘I know you’ll be great with Daichi-kun.’

‘Speaking of which’, Kagami butted him, ‘have you told the kid about your relationship?’

Aomine and Kise exchanged a quick glance, and Aomine spoke:

‘Not yet. I mean, we’ve got everything figured out between us, and we both know what we mean to each other’, Aomine smiled at Kise and hold his hand under the table. ‘Kise is always around, but we agreed that it’s best for Daichi to take things slowly.’

‘Yeah’, Kise nodded. ‘Daichi-kun has just met me, and we’re getting along pretty well, so I don’t what him to feel like I’m stealing his gorgeous daddy, or something like that.’

‘That’s wise’, Kuroko agreed. ‘Either way, the kid is smart, so I think he’ll understand everything on his own, and he’ll be fine with Kise’s presence.’

‘Kise is just being modest, because Daichi is crazy about him! Now he only wants Kise to take him to school and to read him stories. I mean, I think I have the right to be jealous here’, Aomine joked.

They all laughed, and Kagami replied something while Kise hug Aomine. Kuroko sighed with relief and leaned back on the couch. His friends were back. They were there, at his home, holding hands, smiling all lovey-dovey. Aomine’s eyes would only glow when he talked about Daichi, but now they were as bright and as loving as ever, and Kise had regained his sweet cheerful smile. Aomine had kept his promised –he had brought Kise back, and Kise brought up Aomine’s best side. With a discreet smile Kuroko slid his hand across the couch and caught his boyfriend’s hand, intertwining their fingers.

Feeling the warmth Kagami looked down and, smiling fondly, he gave Kuroko an inquisitive glance.

‘I’m just happy’, Kuroko whispered.

‘Yeah, you don’t have to worry anymore. All is good’, Kagami said reassuringly, squeezing his boyfriend’s fingers.

Kuroko nodded happily. In the end everything had worked out.

‘I heard that Midorimacchi is visiting Japan within some days. And Daichi-kun’s birthday is close as well, so maybe we could throw a little party for him and get the guys together’, Kise suggested excitedly.

‘ _Oi_ , I don’t want so many crazy people around my kid!’, Aomine said playfully.

‘Don’t worry, Daichi had an intensive course on crazy’, Kagami guaranteed with a mocking tone, stretching his arm over the table and slapping Aomine’s shoulder.

‘Hey, wanna get in trouble, Bakagami?!’, Aomine teased with a frowned eyebrow.

‘Are you challenging me? ‘Cause I’ve just bought _NBA 2k15_ ’, the red haired man informed, pointing to his _PlayStation_ near the living room’s couch.

‘Bring it on!’, Aomine exclaimed excitedly, raising from his chair, rushing alongside Kagami towards the living room.

Kuroko shrugged his shoulders and gave Kise a little smile.

‘Boys will be boys, right?’

‘Yeah… I guess…’, Kise nodded with a sad smile.

‘What is the matter?’, Kuroko wondered, frowning a worried eyebrow.

‘Back in the day they would face each other in an actual court’, Kise recalled with nostalgia, ‘not idly sitting on a couch with a _PlayStation_ control on their hands.’

‘Well, we don’t have an actual court in our living room, so I think a _PlayStation_ game will do’, Kuroko reasoned.

‘Kurokocchi~’, Kise moaned, stretching his arms over the table. ‘Don’t be so mean!’ Kise rested his head on his arms and stared at the window. With a more serious voice he spoke: ‘It’s just that we’re so different from those kids… We had so many dreams and hopes… And now we’re just… common, you know.’

Kuroko shook his head in disagreement.

‘You are wrong, Kise-kun. There’s nothing ordinary about us, I promise you that. And yes, things have changed, and we might be a little different… but that doesn’t mean that we’re common. It just means that we are better.’

Kise looked away from the window and gave Kuroko a warm thankful smile.

‘I’ll believe you’re right, Kurokocchi. Because you’re always right about this stuff.’

‘You’ll see I am’, Kuroko reassured him. ‘I’m glad you’re back, Kise-kun.’

‘It’s good to be back’, Kise nodded with an honest smile.


	9. Family picture

‘Uncle-Midori!’, Daichi yelled, running towards the new arrival, hugging his legs.

‘Hello, Daichi-kun’, Midorima greeted, looking down at the little boy. ‘Happy birthday.’

‘Here’s my birthday-boy!’, Takao exclaimed joyfully, picking up the kid and taking him into his arms. ‘Look how much you’ve grown!’

‘You think so?!’, Daichi asked, hopeful, with a huge smile.

‘I’m sure! But let’s ask the doctor’, Takao suggested, blinking an eye at Midorima.

‘Yes, you’re tall’, Midorima mumbled, unsure about what he was supposed to say.

‘C’mon Shin-chan! It’s your nephew, you have to be a good doctor!’

‘Try to smile like this’, the kid suggested, leaning forwards and stretching Midorima’s cheeks, much to Takao’s amusement and laughter.

Midorima gave Daichi an awkward twist of a lip that couldn’t exactly be described as a smile, and gave a step back, away from the child.

‘Here is your gift’, Midorima announced abruptly, dropping a rectangle shaped objected wrapped in a colorful paper. ‘Enjoy it, and make sure to drink your milk if you want to grow.’

‘Shin-chan needs to work on his smile, don’t you think so, Daichi-kun?’, Takao whispered as his boyfriend walked away.

Daichi nodded absentmindedly, for his attention was being fully devoted to the gift that he eagerly unwrapped.

‘And in gifts too’, Daichi said with a disillusioned voice, showing Takao a thin book that on its cover read – _Aquarius: 365 tips to improve your daily life_.

Takao squinted his eyes at the book and couldn’t help but laugh. _Some things never change_ , he thought.

‘Don’t you worry, Daichi-kun, I have another gif for you in my car’, Takao promised apologetically. ‘Although you should show your uncle some appreciation and maybe give his book a try, what do you think?’

‘Okay, Uncle-Takao. I’ll ask Ryouta-kun to read it for me later.’

‘Oh, I heard that Kise-kun was back’, Takao suddenly remember. ‘I must say “hi” to him. You still don’t know him very well, do you?’

‘I didn’t know him. But now I do’, Daichi tried to explain. ‘So now I know him very well. And I like him because he’s always here, and he’s nice, cool and makes Daddy laugh. And he tells the best stories!’

‘I’m glad! So maybe he could be your uncle one day as well, how does that sound?’

‘I thought that… and I called Ryouta-kun uncle. But now he can’t be my uncle.’

Takao looked at the kid with a puzzled look.

‘What makes you say that?’

‘Well, if Daddy married that person will be my dad too, right? So Ryouta-kun can’t be my uncle.’

   ‘What?!’, Takao exclaimed. Kuroko had told him that Aomine and Kise were still hiding the true extent of their relationship from Daichi… but somehow the child was already thinking about marriage! ‘But your dad and Kise-kun are not married. They’re very good friends.’

‘Yeah, I know… but they’re more than that – they’re boyfriends’, Daichi secretly whispered at Takao’s ear. ‘And they don’t think I know. But I know. And I like that. Daddy is awesome, but I would like to have another dad. Two parents, you see? Like the other kids at my school.’

Moved by the little boy’s words Takao simply nodded with a warm smile, kissing Daichi’s forehead.

‘You think Ryouta-kun will like it too? To be my dad, I mean.’

‘I’m sure he will’, Takao murmured. ‘He will always be here with your daddy and you, and you’ll have two dads who will love you very much.’

With hopeful shining eyes Daichi looked at Takao with a sweet smile, wrapping his little arms around his neck, hugging him as tightly as he was able to.

‘Thanks, Uncle-Takao.’

‘Hey, kid’, Aomine called from across the room, near the table with all the snakes and the birthday cake, ‘don’t you wanna see the cake Murasakibara baked?’

‘ _Yeee~s_!’, Daichi said enthusiastically, running towards his father as Takao put him down.

Aomine squatted near the table and hold out his arms, picking up his son so he could have a look at the gigantic birthday cake all covered in blue and yellow frosting, the color of _Golden State Warriors_ , Daichi’s newest favorite basketball team (apparently the Lakers were no longer much appealing to the kid).

‘It’s _huu~ge_!’, Daichi said very impressed, his wide eyes swallowing the cake whole. ‘And awesome! Go _Warriors_!’

‘Yeah, it really is _huge_. I wonder who will eat all that cake’, Aomine ironized, giving Murasakibara, who was sitting at the table in front of a bowl full of potato ships, an accusative glare.

‘Better huge than hungry’, Murasakibara simply said, shrugging his shoulders and diving his hand into the pile of chips.

‘Uncle-Murasaki is right! I’m gonna eat all this cake! But it’s going to be hard ‘cause it’s so cool!’

‘We’re glad that you like it, Daichi-kun!’, Himuro thanked with a smile. ‘Atsushi spent the whole morning baking it! I bet it tastes delicious; after all, Atsushi is great with his cakes.’

‘Can I eat it?!’, Daichi pleaded, wiggling his restless body on his dad’s arms.

‘Then let’s hurry and sing you “Happy Birthday”’, Kise suggested.

And so they lighted up the candles and turned off the lights. In front of his huge birthday cake, Daichi’s face shined brighter than ever, his smile huge and blissful as everyone sang and clapped. Kise stole a glance from Aomine who sweetly looked at his son, proudly devoting him is full attention, his blue eyes shining, perhaps teary, and full of love. Kuroko was right. Things had changed, but for the better, and each moment was unique.

Excited, Daichi leaned forward, his party hat tilted on his head, and blew out his candles.

‘There’s one missing’, Kise pointed as the boy took another deep breath just to put out that single candle, while Kagami turned the lights back on.

‘Can I have the first slice, Uncle-Murasaki?’, Daichi asked, his huge purple eyes almost begging. ‘ _Pleee~ase_?’

‘Okay… I guess so’, Murasakibara agreed reluctantly, his teeth clenched as he looked at his cake. ‘Since it’s your birthday’, he remarked while Himuro patted him encouragingly on the back, smiling fondly. Sometimes Himuro wondered who was the most childish – his boyfriend or a seven years-old kid.

‘Don’t you worry, Uncle-Murasaki, the second slice is for you’, Daichi promised as he eagerly pulled from the cake the seven candles. ‘C’mon, Daddy, cut it, cut it!’

‘Wait!’, Kise squeaked abruptly, grabbing the camera. ‘Let me take a picture of you two and the cake first.’

Daichi gazed greedily at his cake, but agreed to take a picture nonetheless, as his father positioned himself by his side.

‘Ryouta-kun, you too!’, Daichi called with a smile, holding out an inviting hand.

‘Na, thanks’, Kise mumbled, hiding his blushed face behind the camera.

‘C’mon!’, Daichi insisted. ‘It’s a family picture!’

For a second everyone remained silent, either looking at a very flushed Kise or at a very happy and innocent Daichi. When Kagami laughed, his giggles quickly muzzled as Kuroko elbowed him, the mood eased up and the friends exchanged a lovely smile between them. Kids surely were adorable.

‘C’mon, Kise’, Aomine called with a sweet smile, holding out his hand as well. ‘The birthday-boy is asking you so nicely.’

‘O-Okay…’, mumbled Kise, obviously embarrassed.

With his red face down the blond handed the camera to Midorima and went around the large table, sitting by Aomine’s side as Daichi made himself comfortable in front of his cake, balancing his body in Kise’s right knee and Aomine’s left one.

‘Okay, smile’, Midorima asked as he pressed the bottom.

‘I guess I have to buy a portrait so I can put our family photo in the display window’, Aomine murmured, discretely holding Kise’s hand, making him blush even more violently.

‘C’mon Daddy, cut it!’, Daichi ordered looking at the cake, tired of waiting.

‘Yeah, Mine-chin~~! Just get it over with already’, Murasakibara pleaded from the other side of the table.

And so Aomine finally began cutting the birthday cake, but his slices were so sloppy (Murasakibara and Daichi weren’t complaining, though) that Kise took over the knife and began cutting and distributing perfectly sized slices. The cake was so delicious that they ate twice and thrice… and yet, when almost everyone was already full, only half of the cake had been eaten.

‘Dai-chin and I will take care of the rest of the cake’, Murasakibara promised.

‘Yeah, we will!’, Daichi agreed, his face all covered in chocolate and blue and yellow frost. ‘This is really yummy!’

  ‘Tomorrow don’t come saying your tummy hurts’, Aomine warned, to which Daichi turned a deaf year.

‘Cut him some slack’, Kise advised, hugging Aomine from behind, they both looking at Daichi that fought with Murasakibara over a little square of chocolate. ‘It’s his special day after all.’

‘He was really sweet with you’, Aomine recalled. ‘And our picture looks amazing.’

The tanned man lifted the camera he had on his hand and showed their picture to his boyfriend. They looked so happy, as happy as they looked on their old photos, but better. Somehow that recent picture seemed more honest, more real. _A beautiful family_ , Kise thought with a warm smile. _Not a common one, that’s for sure. But still, beautiful and happy_.

‘Hey, wanna get out of here?’, Aomine asked Kise.

‘Why?’, Kise retorted with a puzzled look. ‘I mean, it’s your son’s birthday party. You should –’

‘It’ll be fine, Daichi won’t mind. The guys will stay with him, and he’s so excited that shortly he’ll be sleeping.’ Aomine turned his body in Kise’s arms and looked at his golden eyes. ‘C’mon, come with me. I want to take you somewhere special.’

‘Where?’, Kise asked, curious.

‘You’ll only know if you follow me.’


	10. Always

‘Lift your foot’, Aomine advised, walking awkwardly behind Kise as he covered his eyes with his hands.

‘Where are we?’, Kise asked for the tenth time. The sound under his feet and around him was family, and so was the smell and the cold wind involving him. Still, he couldn’t guess where his boyfriend had taken him.

Without a word Aomine freed Kise eyes, and he could, at last, see - they were at the mall’s bridge over the creek, near the iron bar with their old ribbons. Surprised, Kise stepped back against Aomine’s chest, his hand covering his wide mouth.

‘So, you’ve seen the ribbons I’ve placed here on Valentine’s Day after you left’, Aomine said. ‘But now you‘re here, and we’ve spent these last days planning Daichi’s birthday party that the date slipped past us. I guess it seemed meaningless, since we were finally together. But you’re my boyfriend, so we have to celebrate Valentine’s Day.’ Aomine took his hand out of his pocket and showed Kise a blue strip and a yellow one, and a pen. ‘Shall we?’, he asked with a smile, handing Kise his strip.

‘Aominecchi…’, Kise mumbled, touched by his boyfriend lovely gesture. ‘Of course’, he nodded, grabbing the yellow strip.

After writing their names on their respective strips they tangled them and tied them under the eighth ribbon. A lovely ribbon in yellow and blue… it was perfect. And now they were nine.

‘There will be more ribbons’, Aomine promised. ‘Ribbons that we’ll tie together.’

‘I love you, Daikicchi’, Kise whispered, holding his boyfriend’s hand.

‘Me too’, Aomine retorted, leaning in for a kiss. ‘I love you.’

Aomine grabbed Kise’s cheeks in his hands and pulled him close, placing a warm peck on his lips, and then a deeper kiss, more passionate and lovingly.

‘C’mon, let’s play some basketball’, Aomine suggested, grabbing Kise’s hand.

‘What? Are you crazy?’, he laughed. ‘Where?’

‘In the court nearby! Where we used to play all the time when we were kids’, Aomine remembered.

‘We don’t even have a basketball.’

‘We’re in a mall, we’ll just _buy_ one! C’mon, don’t you want to play one-on-one against me?’, Aomine insisted with a daring smile.

‘ _Only if you’re ready to loose_!’, Kise teased, grinning, taking Aomine’s hand.

They rushed to the other end of the bridge and looked back one last time, to their newest ribbon, where it read _Aomine Daiki. Kise Ryouta. Always_. Their gaze drifted from the ribbon to each other, and then to the path ahead of them. With a smile they hold their hands and began walking forward.


End file.
